Good morning, I’m back once again. But not like a renegade master, because my behaviour is not ill.
I’d love to tell you I feel refreshed, full of vim, vigour and with my batteries fully recharged, but sadly that’s not the case. It’s not that I didn’t have a splendid time in Barcelona, I most certainly did. Mrs Blogs and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in the city we used to live, it’s just that it provides so many delights that it’s difficult to resist their relentless consumption.
However, a fun time was had, much walking was done, lots of swimming in the sea, snacking, tapas-ing, drinking cold beer and cava and the odd G&T along the way. It did make me realise how much I miss the place though. Not simply for the holiday-esque treats one indulges in, but because it’s just an amazing city and I love the way of life there. And the weather.
The first couple of days were a bit cloudy and someone said ‘It’s a shame about the weather’. I laughed because although it was a bit cloudy, the clouds weren’t a low, miserable, rain-filled blanket across the sky and the temperature was still about 12 degrees Celsius warmer than when we left Dublin. By the time we left yesterday summer had really kicked in, the air had changed as it does, and it reinforced my belief that anybody who chooses to live somewhere cold is a bit doo-lally (and I obviously include myself in that).
Anyway, the transfer window is open, who knows what might happen in the future. You can never say never when it comes to blogging. I’m happy at the moment but I can’t rule anything out etc etc and so on.
Many thanks to Tom for holding the fort here throughout a period when not very much happened. When you can get 10 days out of Petr Cech, the departure of Ryo Miyaichi and the odd snippet from the Copa America you’re doing fine work indeed. I obviously kept an eye on what was happening on a very superficial level, but it was nice not to be immersed in Arsenal, so to speak. From that perspective, I suppose I’m feeling relatively fresh.
This morning it’s all about Cech again and we’ve got to a point with this one where it seems so obvious it’s going to happen certain media outlets are saying it’s officially done even when it’s not. It’d be no surprise to you to learn that the Mail did just that, jumping the gun on an official announcement despite various other well-placed sources suggesting nothing is complete yet.
There’s no doubt it’s close, but until you have everything done you just never know. We’ve had situations like this before where deals have been almost over the line but haven’t been finalised, and perhaps it’s just my natural distrust of Chelsea but I remain a little suspicious over their apparent willingness to let him go.
They might genuinely feel like they can’t stand in his way out of the goodness of their hearts, but goodness of heart is not a quality you can easily attribute to Roman Abramovich or Jose Mourinho. One a man who made his money in the most ruthless, rapacious way possible, the other one of the biggest wankblasters football has ever seen. It all seems a little against type, even if the fee of £10-12m would allow them to save face a little.
And while I accept fully there’s an issue with our goalkeeping position, there’s also a part of me that thinks if Chelsea really, really felt Cech would improve us to the point where our challenge would impact on their chances of winning the league, they simply wouldn’t allow the deal to happen. He’s undoubtedly a very good goalkeeper, at one point the best in the world, but definitely not the same player he was since that injury and not getting any younger.
However, maybe that’s just the overly pessimistic side of me coming out. On the other hand I’ve seen people draw parallels with the signing of Jens Lehmann, also 33 when he arrived at Arsenal and he had a massive role to play. Similarly, Edwin van der Sar wasn’t exactly pulling up trees at Fulham but played a huge part in Man Utd’s success during his time there. As well as that, if it does happen, nobody can accuse the manager of ignoring what is an unconvincing situation in a key position.
I think what I’ll do is this: wait and see what happens, and if he signs for us I’ll make my judgements based on how he performs. It’s a crazy, revolutionary way to go about things, I know, but there you go. I think it’s possible to harbour doubts about the deal (as outlined above), but if Cech can recapture the form of his early Chelsea days then there’s no question he’ll improve us.
Not to mention the vast experience he brings of winning things. I suspect that’s another factor in the manager’s thinking about this signing. The major we’ve made in recent times have been players from big clubs with trophies and medals under their belts. Cech ticks that box too, so we’ll wait and see if this one gets 100% across the line.
The knock-on effect of his signing would be the departure of one of David Ospina or Wojciech Szczesny. The Colombian has been linked quite seriously with a move to Turkey and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was the one to make way, but that’s something James and I can discuss a bit later in this week’s Arsecast Extra.
It should be available for you late afternoon. As usual, if you have any questions or topics for discussion, simply send them to @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra (you can send more than one Tweet if your question is a bit long for 140 characters).
Right, so that’s it for now. How have you lot been then?
